BOTTLES of Pepsi and Coca-Cola were removed from cold cabinets in the Indian parliament yesterday after a report found that the drinks were contaminated with dangerous levels of pesticides, spreading panic among legislators.
The two leading brands were among 12 soft drinks made by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo that were withdrawn. Promotional fridges festooned with the drinks’ logos were also ordered removed from the MPs’ canteen. Legislators from all sides of the chamber demanded a nationwide ban on Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
India is one of the largest markets in the world for the soft drinks, estimated to be worth £600 million annually.
Analysis of drinks bought in Delhi by environmental activists found levels of insecticides and pesticides up to 70 times those permitted by European standards. Consumption over a long period could cause cancer, birth defects and damage to nervous and reproductive systems, they alleged.
The row began when the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment released a report claiming that the 12 brands marketed in India by the world’s leading drinks manufacturers contained deadly pesticide residues not found in European bottles.
Advertisement
The organisation said that laboratory analysis had found residues that included DDT and lindane. On average the pesticide level in Coca-Cola was 45 times more than permitted by EU rules, while Pepsi was 37 times higher. Levels in Mirinda Lemon were said to be 70 times higher.
Tests on drinks imported from Europe were found to contain no insecticides or pesticides. The scientists say that the contamination comes from the water used in India to make the drinks, which is not rigorously analysed because of a loophole in the law.
Sushma Swaraj, the Health Minister, said: “It is a very serious issue. I’ve already asked my officials to give me a comprehensive report, which I shall present to MPs.”
But her assurances failed to assuage emotional legislators, who urged an immediate ban. “This is nothing but poison in the name of softdrinks,” Ramji Lal Suman, an opposition MP, said. “These are playing with the lives of our people.”
This is only the latest in a series of soft-drink wars in India. In 1977 Coca-Cola was banned by the socialist Government after it refused to divulge the contents of its drinks. It returned to the Indian market in 1993. In 1990 Delhi also banned the sale of popular soft drinks Limca, Gold Spot and Tripp in an effort to protect people from consuming brominated vegetable oil (BVO), a known carcinogenic ingredient banned in 129 other countries. Limca, now a Coca-Cola product, is among the 12 drinks in the latest row.
Advertisement
Six months ago, the pressure group caused a storm when it tested leading brands of bottled water, including those marketed by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, and also found dangerous levels of pesticides. Government inspectors raided factories, but have yet to issue new standards.
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo immediately joined forces to reject the latest findings. Senior executives said that their drinks were rigorously and continuously tested and always met the highest international standards. The companies said that they were considering suing the environmental group.
“All the products are tested in independent, internationally accredited scientific laboratories,” said Rajiv Bakshi, the PepsiCo chief executive, flanked by Sanjiv Gupta, the Coca-Cola president. “The report of the Centre for Science and the Environment is baseless and should be completely disregarded.”
It was a rare moment of solidarity. The two giants have fought doggedly for their share of the 6.5 billion bottles sold annually in what has been dubbed the “cola wars”. Rival employees are poached, ruinous price wars are the norm and the two often resort to the courts to resolve their disputes. When they defaced rocks in a Himalayan river with competing logos, the Supreme Court fined both.
In 1996, when Coke won a fierce battle to sponsor the Cricket World Cup, Pepsi set about buying up India’s leading players for an aggressive advertising campaign to run during the tournament.
Advertisement
Thirsty nation poses a problem for American giants
Although India consumes 6.5 billion bottles of soft drinks every year, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have not found it easy to penetrate the market. They have fought bitter advertising wars and in 2002 almost prevented the cricket World Cup from starting after fomenting a contract dispute between Indian players and their authorities. Their biggest problems have come, however, from government measures aimed at reducing their dominance of the market.
In 1977 Coca-Cola was banned by George Fernandes, the left-wing minister, after the company refused to disclose the secret ingredients. For 13 years there was no presence from the big two in the market. When Pepsi attempted to re-launch in 1990, having withdrawn in the 1950s, it faced stiff opposition from the domestic producers’ lobby. It was eventually allowed to sell its drink after agreeing to change the name to Lehar-Pepsi, or Pepsi Wave, and promising to invest $1 billion in the country.
After several failed attempts Coca-Cola was readmitted in 1993, but, along with Pepsi, was subjected to a boycott by nationalists. India is not the only place where nationalism and anti-“cola-colonisation” has hit the industry. The French-based Mecca-Cola, Qibla-Cola in Britain and Zam Zam Cola in Iran have all been recently launched as a Muslim alternative to the global drink and Cola Turka has done well in Turkey.